Back in early 2020 Jim questioned Microsoft’s decision to do away with the team of experts who double-checked new Windows updates/features and instead rely on feedback from the Insider program. Jim thought it was a bad decision then and nothing since has changed his mind- and most users agreed. What do you think?
I’ve been saying for a long time now that the system of relying on feedback from the Insider Program is clearly not working and that Microsoft needs to return to its former method of employing a team of experts to check updates and new innovations for bugs and associated issues prior to general release.
The Feedback Hub app, for example, which is built into Windows 10 — and is the primary source for users to report bugs, issues, or make suggestions — is one of Microsoft’s main tools in its decision-making process. Feedback submitted via the Feedback Hub is voted on by other users and subsequently listed in order of priority based on the highest number of Upvotes through to the lowest number of Upvotes. I had reason very recently to submit feedback via the Feedback Hub, an extremely rare occurrence, and there, as if to confirm that the lunatics have indeed taken over the asylum, right at the top of the list of suggestions with almost 900 Upvotes was this little gem:
Apparently, the greatest concern regarding Windows 10 for the majority of users who utilize the Feedback Hub is to make the Start button more colorful. The mind boggles! So, in the future, while we’ll likely still have to put up with the myriad of bad Windows Updates that are forced upon us and constantly creating issues, at least we can look forward to a more colorful Start button… whoopee. This exemplifies what I have been saying for many years– that relying on the user community for advice rather than on a team of experts who actually know what they are talking about is sheer folly.
To emphasize further– number two in the list of suggestions which, in my opinion, while not exactly imperative certainly has a lot more merit than a more colorful Start button, has attracted a mere 95 Upvotes, way behind the inane number one:
These are the suggestions that reflect the major concerns in the user community and, in my mind, clearly indicate that the system is dominated by nincompoops. Do we need a more reliable update system? No. Do we need more interesting/useful apps and features? No. Do we need Microsoft to desist from forcing decisions upon us and allow users more control over their own operating system? No. What we need is a more colorful Start button. Sheesh!
Of course, I have no idea how much store Microsoft actually places on feedback’s top suggestions, hopefully not a lot. However, it clearly goes to show that the current system is very much broken.
End of rant.
Cheers… Jim
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What I want them to fix it the 100% Disk Usage that slows the computer down, not daring enough to open my laptop and swap it for an S.S.D., or I would have already.
Also the part where the Standby Memory overflows making the H.D.D. and S.S.D. slow the system, gotta use programs that clean it.
I do agree with your article fully.
In my experience, disk usage hovering around the 100% mark is usually an indication that the hard drive is on the way out. I’ve seen this many times over and a new drive is the answer. You might have to bite the bullet and swap the HDD for an SSD, sooner would be better than later. In the meantime, I would strongly advise backing up any personal data saved on that drive.
A great ‘rant’ Jim, I agree wholeheartedly.
What next, asking the nincompoops what shape would they like for the Windows logo.
Thanks,
Jonno
Cheers Jonno.
I agree whole heartedly that MS should have a large, “fully” staffed quality control / testing teams for Windows and Office applications.
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“Insiders” are not an adequate replacement for professional, systematic, quality control testing. Where Insiders are useful is providing the option of testing on a wider range of computing environments, a wider range of computer hardware and software combinations. That gives MS the opportunity to identify programming bugs that are limited to very specific environments that MS has not created. Insiders tend to be more experienced users, so they can make more useful suggestions about proposed new features that MS releases to them. Ways to “polish” them before the feature is released to the general public
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The “Feedback Hub” is actually the 3rd generation of user feedback to MS.
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The first generation was a collection of sites on the “UserVoice” website. Each was created independently by developer teams at MS. They are still in use.
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The second generation was the “smiley face” buttons built in to some applications.
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The third generation is the “Feedback Hub” application in Windows 10.
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Apparently MS consolidates feedback from all of these sources.
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I used Windows and Office programs for about 25 years before the feedback options started to appear. Feedback is nice to have, even if the return feedback from MS is trivially small.
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As I understand it MS takes the feedback, considers the suggestions and number of people voting for it, but they pick the suggestions with their own priorities in mind. Simple number of votes guarantees nothing.
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I have created an article on the MS “Answers” / “MS Community” forum that discusses Feedback. It includes a link to a collection of almost 70 UserVoice feedback sites that people with Window 7, 8, Mac OS’s can use instead of the Windows 10 Feedback Hub.
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https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/send-feedback-to-ms-developers/506e7654-8ced-405b-911e-c58d8f253069
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Keep up the good work.
Cheers Ron, and thank you for the valuable resource/link, appreciated.
I do think feedback is good, but the problem is anyone can be an insider.
I get emails for insider stuff but don’t test the insider stuff because I only have 1 computer and there’s been problems with the AV I use and others on people using the insider versions.
I was excited when I heard they were trying out the ability to have tabs in explorer and apps – I think tabs would be a handy feature that I’d use a lot and it’s been asked for a while. Yet it seems like half the time they work on features that people don’t ask for.
Why complain about moribund Win 10, when the Windows 11 24H2 update was, and continues to be, an unmitigated disaster with a myriad of issues, ranging from damaging Windows Explorer to disabling games, from defeating further updates to destroying the whole OS on some WD Blue SSD’s?
On the other hand, eliminating all QC staff is bound to save money and increase the value of MS stock. Look how that benefited Boeing!
Hey Adelaide,
As explained in the intro, this article is a repost from 2020, originally published more than 12 months before Windows 11 was released, and long before Windows 11 24H2 was even heard of.